Dragon Dream (FAA registration: N866ML
) is an
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
[ ]lighter than air
A lifting gas or lighter-than-air gas is a gas that has a density lower than normal atmospheric gases and rises above them as a result, making it useful in lifting lighter-than-air aircraft. Only certain lighter-than-air gases are suitable as lift ...
(LTA) cargo rigid airship
A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the Aerostat, envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pres ...
built by Worldwide Aeros Corp as a half-scale proof of concept prototype for a design which the manufacturer calls the " Aeroscraft". The development and design has been funded by the US government through the military Walrus HULA and then the "Pelican" projects.
Design
The hull of the Dragon Dream has a flattened elliptic cross-section.
Buoyancy
Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is the force exerted by a fluid opposing the weight of a partially or fully immersed object (which may be also be a parcel of fluid). In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of t ...
control is managed by pumping helium
Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
gas from the internal gas bag and compressing it into a storage cell, the reduction in lifting volume leading to a loss of buoyancy. The system can vary the airship's lift by 3,000–4,000 lb. The manufacturer uses the phrase "Control Of Static Heaviness" for this technology.
;Specifications
Operational history
The airship was completed in 2013 and, after extensive systems tests in the construction hangar at MCAS Tustin
Marine Corps Air Station Tustin (IATA: NTK, ICAO: KNTK, FAA LID: NTK) is a former United States Navy and United States Marine Corps air station, located in Tustin, California.
History
The Air Station was established in 1942 by the United ...
, was granted an airworthiness certificate
A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spray ...
by the US Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
in September 2013, following which some outdoor tethered trials were carried out. Shortly afterwards it was badly damaged when part of the hangar roof collapsed,
References
*
External links
Worldwide Aeros website
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{{Portal bar, Aviation
Airships of the United States
2010s United States experimental aircraft